Revised Intelligence Law Would Broaden Government Surveillance Powers

Congress is expected to approve Wednesday a White House-backed bill to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- the most sweeping change in the 30-year-old law and one that may further expand the use of evidence gathered by intelligence agencies in criminal cases. FISA determines how the government conducts intelligence surveillance. Before Sept. 11, 2001, intelligence agencies could not readily share information with federal prosecutors. After the terrorist attacks in the U.S., those rules were relaxed. The Justice Department says that since 2001, there has been a fourfold increase in the number of requests by prosecutors to use information derived from eavesdropping. The great majority of requests are approved. The new legislation offers a window on how prosecutors have been using such surveillance, and it has spurred a sharp debate over the bill's likely impact on civil liberties.
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